


Home Is Where the Heart Is

by ladyknight27



Series: and with your spirit [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 15:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6381028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyknight27/pseuds/ladyknight27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year after Starkiller Base, Jess and Rey are sent on an undercover mission together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Is Where the Heart Is

It’s been a year since Starkiller Base, and the war has been fairly quiet, aside from a few mild skirmishes between X-Wing patrols encountering TIE fighters.  General Organa reminds them that the peace won’t last, but all their informants have the same message – the First Order is licking its wounds and nothing major is in the works.  The Resistance base is as calm as it gets; Rey trains with Luke, Jess and Poe fly patrols, and Finn helps with the new infantry recruits.  When another wave of recruits joins, Rey officially moves in with Jess.  Naturally, she tells Jess that she’s given up her room when they’re at dinner with the pilots, and the delighted face Jess makes gives everyone else two solid weeks of ammunition to tease her with.

One evening, Jess drags Rey to the hangar to keep her company while she messes with a fuel line that keeps clogging.  Their idle conversation peters out, and Jess wonders guiltily if Rey has fallen asleep from boredom.  Finally finished with her task, she emerges from under her ship to find Rey leaning against the X-wing’s front landing strut, focused on the little notebook that she always carries.

“Done?” Rey asks, smiling up at her. 

“Mhm,” Jess replies, sitting down next to her and kissing her temple as an excuse to peek at what Rey’s doing.  To her surprise, she sees a sketch of her own flight helmet.  “I knew you kept notes in that thing,” Jess says, “but I didn’t know you could draw.”

Rey explains, “I used it as a journal on Jakku.  It was useful for scavenging, but part of me thought that, when my family came back for me, I’d have it so I would remember.”  She flips to the front of the book and turns the pages, showing Jess her old salvages and plans for projects.  Here and there are drawings of her home – an old flight helmet, a flower, a little doll dressed in flight suit orange.

“You still use it?” Jess asks, as the pictures begin to look familiar; there’s one of BB-8 and another of Finn. 

Rey nods.  “If I’m working on repairs, I don’t need to, but if I’m planning something, it helps me think if I can draw it out.”

Rey hands her the book, and Jess keeps flipping through, finding doodles of Black One and the little potted plant in their room in between plans for a double-bladed lightsaber.  She pauses on one of herself, looking like she’s just finished a flight – grinning, with her hair escaping from her ponytail and her helmet under one arm.  “Yes, this looks very thoughtful and well-planned,” she teases.  “What were you thinking about then?” 

“This,” Rey replies impishly, and kisses her.  Jess drops the notebook.

\---

The next day is a rest day, and Jess takes the opportunity to sleep in.  She gets up for a late breakfast with Poe and Finn, but when she and Rey get back to their room, Jess flops back onto the bed and props herself up on one elbow to read – well, she’s mostly ignoring her book to watch Rey draw at their desk.  She closes her eyes for a minute, then cracks one open when she feels a nudge at her shoulder.

“Scoot over,” Rey says.

“Nooooo…” Jess whines playfully. 

“You look comfortable and I’m cold.  Move.”  

She complies, and Rey lies down and tucks her head under Jess’s chin.  Jess wraps an arm around her waist and closes her eyes again.  “I thought you were working on something.”

“My lightsaber again,” Rey replies.  Her lips brush Jess’s neck with every word.  “I got stuck, so I’m taking a break.”

Jess nods against the top of her head.  She’s warm and content with Rey against her, and she’s about to doze off again when her comm beeps.  She groans and checks the display – it’s General Organa. 

“Hello?”

“Jessika, hello.  I have a mission for you that I’d like to discuss.  Could you come meet me in fifteen minutes?”

“Of course,” Jess replies.

“Thank you,” Leia says.  “Can you find Rey?  I’d like her to be there as well.”

Jess knees Rey, who is giggling silently into her collarbone.  “Of course, I think I can track her down.”

“My office, fifteen minutes,” Leia repeats, then clicks the comm off.

Jess rolls onto her back and props herself up on her elbows.  “Rey?  General Organa is looking for you,” she says mock-seriously.

Rey smacks her in the chest, so Jess rolls over to trap her arms, then takes advantage of their position to kiss her. 

Rey indulges her for a minute, then breaks away to murmur, “Do you really want to show up in front of the general looking like this is what we’ve been doing?”

Jess grumbles, but gets up.  After she runs a comb through her hair and Rey fixes her buns, they make their way to General Organa’s office just past the command center.  She invites them both to sit and passes them each a datapad. 

“We know that the majority of the First Order’s manufacturing is located in the Unknown Regions,” the general begins, “but the similarity of their capital ships to the old Imperial Star Destroyers makes us suspect they have connections to theoretically above-board companies.  Our sources suggest a particular shipyard on Corellia may be working with them under the table.  Therefore, we would like the two of you to go undercover to this shipyard to see if you can discover any signs of First Order involvement.”

“Posing as civilians looking for jobs?” Jess asks.

“Exactly,” Leia replies.  “Once you find convincing evidence, come back, but three months is the longest we want you gone either way.”

“Why us?” Rey asks.

“Rey, Luke and I agree that this would be a good test of your new skills,” Leia explains.  “But I can’t send you alone; rumors have begun to spread about a new Jedi, and we suspect your name and description have been circulated throughout the First Order.”  She continues, “Jessika, I’m told that your espionage skills are also improving, and your name and face aren’t well known around the galaxy, which makes it safer for you and improves Rey’s cover.”

“I can’t tell if this is an order or a request,” Jess says, “but either way, I’m in.”

“Something of both,” Leia replies.  “Rey?”

“If Master Skywalker thinks I’m ready, then yes,” she says. 

“So it’s settled,” Leia says.  “You’ll have a few days to prepare, and we have a ship for you to use.” She pauses briefly.  “One last thing.  I know the two of you are together, and I’m not considering that in my decision, unless you think I should.  It’ll certainly help you deal with what might end up being a long trip.”  She eyes them both, then adds, “If anything does happen, I know both of you are too smart to do anything reckless to protect the other.”  It sounds like a compliment, but Jess knows that it’s a warning.

Since they’re going undercover, they can’t use Jess’s X-wing or the Falcon.  Instead, Leia leads them to a side hangar, and hands them off to one of the mechanics.  He leads them towards a small, beat-up freighter and begins to describe some of the modifications they’re making to the ship’s radar and communications systems.  When Rey looks away from him and catches sight of the ship, she freezes.

“Rey?”  Jess asks, seeing the stricken expression on the other girl’s face.  She nudges her gently when she gets no response.  Neither of them notices the mechanic muttering something about “giving them a moment” before he disappears.

“It’s a Ghtroc 690,” Rey finally says.  “I rebuilt one of these on Jakku a while ago.  I was going to sell it for portions and tools, but it got stolen right after I flew it to Niima Outpost.”

Jess stares.  “You _rebuilt_ it?  You took a crashed ship, put it back together with salvaged parts, and got it to fly?”

“Hyperdrive and all,” Rey says.  “That was my first time piloting a real ship.”

Jess bumps shoulders with her gently.  “Well, this one needs a name,” she says.  “Do you want to name it after your old one?”

“It didn’t have a name,” Rey explains, smiling crookedly at her.  “It was never really mine – I mean, I cared about it, but I was always planning to sell it.”

Jess puts on a grave face.  “Then I know just what to call it.”  She pauses for dramatic effect, then says, “The Century Pigeon.”

Rey stares at her for a moment before bursting into giggles.  “That’s terrible, Jess,” she laughs.  “You’re not serious.”

“I am!” Jess insists, secretly preening at her successful attempt to break Rey’s mood.  “I know you wish we could take the Millennium Falcon, and this is sort of a poor substitute.  So… Century Pigeon.”

“I hate it,” Rey grins.  

\---

A few days before they’re scheduled to leave, Jess spends the evening and half the night getting used to the controls of the Ghtroc.  She’s never flown one before, and although she adapts easily enough in the flight sim, the real ship handles much more clumsily than her X-wing when she takes it out for a test flight. 

She gets back so late that Rey doesn’t even wake when she curls up next to her.  She ends up oversleeping; when she finally opens her eyes, she’s alone, but she dimly remembers Rey mentioning an early meditation session with Luke Skywalker.  Jess drags herself out of bed and only makes half an effort to look presentable before going in search of food. 

 She finds her girlfriend at a table in the mess and flops down across from her.  Rey is already halfway through her breakfast, and looks unfairly wide awake.  Teasingly, Jess says, “I think I need this more than you do,” picks up Rey’s mug of caf, and takes a sip.

She makes a face – how can she drink it so sweet? – before looking up and seeing the expression on Rey’s face.  It’s preternaturally calm, as if Rey is trying to restrain herself.  Oops.

She puts the mug back. 

Rey says, “I used to hear that a lot, you know.  ‘I need this more than you do.’  With my food, my water… I had to fight to keep everything that was mine.”

Jess nods.  “I’m sorry.  I wasn’t thinking.  I’d never… I… here, do you want mine?”

“No,” Rey replies wryly.  She continues, “I know you didn’t mean it that way.  It’s not how you grew up.  For me, though, it’s hard to not react on instinct.”

“Anyways,” Jess says, trying for levity, “you’re a Jedi.  If I really tried to take your food, you could do horrible things to me.”

Rey stands up so quickly she almost knocks her chair over.  “Is that what you really think I’d do?” she demands, horrified.  “Do you really think I’d hurt you?”

Shit, now Jess has really put her foot in it.  “No!  No, I was joking,” she insists, trying to take Rey’s hand.  Rey lets her, but only for a moment.

“I have to go,” she says as she tugs her hand free and rushes from the room. 

At dinnertime, Jess doesn’t want to deal with the inevitable clamor and nosy questions at the pilots’ table, so she finds a spot alone.  Rey is nowhere to be seen, which makes her doubly worried.  How could she have said that – and worse, right before they’re supposed to spend Force knows how long together off base?  She’s messed everything up – her relationship, the mission, General Organa’s trust in her. 

Just as she decides to give up on dinner entirely, she hears a quiet “Jess?” and looks up to see Rey standing across from her. 

Jess breathes out a relieved sigh when she sits down, and immediately says, “I’m so sorry.  I shouldn’t have said that.  I know you’d never hurt me, and I shouldn’t have joked about it.” 

Rey covers Jess’s hand where it rests on the table, and Jess shuts up.  “I’m afraid I will,” Rey admits quietly.  “I’ve heard so many stories about what these powers mean I can do, and so many of the Jedi I’ve heard of have hurt people they loved.  Kylo Ren, Anakin Skywalker… even Luke ran from his sister.”

“Rey…” Jess starts, unsure of what to say.  “You’re not like them, though.  You’re the light side of the Force.”

Rey searches her face.  “I felt it, though.  The dark side.  On Starkiller Base.”  Jess turns her hand over to lace their fingers together and tries not to react.  She doesn’t want to scare Rey off again. 

“I wanted to kill Ren.  I had connected with the Force, I’d knocked him down, and the dark side told me to kill him.  It reminded me that he’d hurt Finn and killed Han and I should kill him for what he’d done.”

“But you didn’t,” Jess reminds her gently.

“I didn’t.  I was struggling with it, and the planet split and took him away.  But if it hadn’t…” 

“That’s okay then,” Jess says.  “You fought it, and you didn’t let it control you.  And that was before you’d even started training with Luke.”

“Yeah,” Rey says.  “But I’m so much stronger now than I was.  It could be worse next time.  Or if something happened to you… I don’t know what I’d do.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jess reassures her.  “I’m not planning to get caught on this mission, anyways.”

Rey sighs and squeezes her hand.  “Good.”

\---

The day they leave the base, they say goodbye to their friends at breakfast, then meet Luke and Leia in the hangar. 

“Stop on Takodana,” General Organa reminds Jess while Rey and Luke talk quietly nearby.  “I don’t want anyone to figure out where you’re coming from.”

Jess nods.  Although she knows this is a mission she’s capable of completing, she feels nervous.  When Rey comes up to stand next to her, Leia puts a hand on each of their shoulders, and says solemnly, “May the Force be with you.” 

And that’s that.  They board the Century Pigeon, Rey settles into the pilot’s seat, and they take off. 

They reach Takodana without incident and find a spot in the crowded landing area next to a stone castle. 

“I guess Maz rebuilt,” Rey says as they disembark.  Jess nods, remembering the battle they fought here and the amount of rubble that was left in the aftermath. 

She glances over at Rey and grins; her girlfriend is raking her hand through her hair, looking annoyed.  She catches Jess’s glance and sticks her tongue out.  “It feels weird to have my hair down,” she complains.  In deference to the mission, both Jess and Rey are dressed in nondescript khaki jumpsuits, and Rey’s hair is loose around her shoulders.  “It’s in my face,” she adds.  “I’ll have to put it up somehow when I’m working.”

“I can braid it,” Jess offers as they walk through the door into a crowded bar. 

They’re met by a diminutive woman wearing enormous goggles.  She studies them for a moment, then says crisply, “Travelers looking for a room?  I have one remaining.  Forty credits.” 

Rey replies, “Yes, thank you.”  She hands over the requested sum, and the woman – Jess assumes this must be Maz Kanata – pockets it and leads them up a flight of stairs.

When they reach the room, Maz turns and pulls Rey into a hug.  “Your eyes are happier,” she says.  “I am glad for you.”  She turns to Jess and adjusts her goggles several times.  “And you are Jessika,” she says. 

Jess tries not to fidget under her scrutiny.  “Did General Organa tell you we were coming?”

“She did,” Maz replies absently.  “And I am very upset you do not have Chewbacca with you.”  Rey snickers.  Finally, she pulls her goggles away from her face and pats Jess’s side.  “You are nervous,” she says.  “Do not be.  All will be well.”

Somehow, Jess thinks she doesn’t just mean their mission.  Obscurely comforted, she sits down on the bed and listens to Rey and Maz discuss logistics. 

“Come down for dinner,” she finally instructs them.  “I will also give you supplies when you leave.”

“Portions?” Rey asks.  Jess hopes nobody sees the grimace that immediately crosses her face – she’s going to miss the base really soon if all they’ll have to eat is that crap.

“And fresh food,” Maz says, raising an eyebrow at Jess.  Busted.

\---

They take off from the castle the next morning, and wait on the other side of the planet until they receive a brief transmission from Maz assuring them that nobody followed them out.  Jess plots a course that takes them through a sequence of short hyperspace hops until they reach a major route to Corellia.  While they fly, they go over their cover story again.  Jess is a freighter pilot from Dandoran who hasn’t gotten any jobs recently and is looking to work for a while until she can afford to fly home.  Rey – going by the name Dev – is her friend from home, and is a skilled engineer.  For the sake of their cover, she’ll leave the lightsaber behind when she leaves for work, and they’ll both stick to carrying small, easily concealed blasters.

The shipyard they’re targeting has two sites: one does basic repairs, and the other is used for building new ships and similar projects.  Jess’s skills as a mechanic are more suited to the former, and Rey will work on the new side.  The repair site will sometimes send a ship to the other location if the work needed is too extensive; if Jess volunteers to shuttle ships, it will give her and Rey a chance to touch base when necessary.

As they approach Corellia, Jess keys the comms on and says, “Freighter Century Pigeon with two crew, requesting permission to land at Frye Shipyard.”

A reply crackles back.  “Repairs?”

“No,” Jess says.  “Looking for work.”

“Fine.  Hangar Three.”

Jess lands the ship in an empty spot and they disembark.  They’re met by a 3PO unit that has seen better days.  It collects their names and the ship’s registration codes, then gives them directions to the mechanics’ and engineers’ offices.

The engineering side is five kilometers away.  Rey grumbles but trudges off, and Jess makes her way to the much closer repair station. 

Getting a job is easy.  The man she talks to is uninterested in her cover story, which suits her fine.  She’ll work from 0900 to 1700, five days a week.  She doesn’t really care about the arrangements, but makes a show of haggling for free docking fees, water, and power along with her pay. 

When they’re done dealing, the man leers at her and adds, “You don’t have to live in the hangar if you don’t want.  You should come stay with me instead.”

“No, I’m staying with my ship,” Jess replies bluntly.  When he turns away, she sighs.  This is definitely a seedy place.  It’s promising for their mission, but it’s going to get tiresome quickly. 

She heads back to the freighter, thinking idly about what needs to be done to keep it livable.  Air filters and water recycling shouldn’t be a problem, since they’re staying planetside.  However, she would prefer to keep the thing as close to flight-ready as possible, just in case their cover gets blown. 

She wanders aimlessly around the outside of the ship, subtly checking out the ships they’d landed near.  They’re off to the side of the hangar where it’s a little less crowded, and they have a straight shot to the air if they need to take off.  The ships around them are a pretty standard assortment of battered junkers.  A couple have speeders parked outside, but none of them have any funny markings or modifications that could be concealing military-grade equipment.  _Not that the First Order would be dumb enough to put their insignia on anything here, sadly,_ she thinks. 

She heads back inside to wait for Rey, and soon enough her comm pings. “Can you lower one of the cargo lifts?” she asks without preamble.  “I’m almost there.” 

Jess does as requested, and soon enough, Rey rides the lift up with a tarp-covered bundle at her feet.  “Got the job,” she says as Jess helps her shift the bundle, “and one of the other engineers told me where to find stuff to salvage.  I think I can convert these air filters to fit our ship.”

Jess nods, pleased that they’ve reached the same conclusion about keeping the Pigeon flight-ready.  “How’d you get them back here?”

“They loaned me a speeder because I said my ship was over here,” Rey grins.  “I’m calling it the ‘Decade Sparrow.’”

“I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”  Jess groans.  “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”  Rey looks impossibly smug, and Jess has to concede that she’s right.

\---

That evening, they’re lounging on their bed, Rey’s head in Jess’s lap, as she describes her encounter with the sleazy guy from the mechanic station.  Rey probably intends to look outraged, but her hair is in her eyes and she has a smudge of grease across one cheekbone; it’s the cutest thing Jess has ever seen. 

“If I ever meet that guy, I’m going to see how high I can levitate someone before I drop him,” Rey grouses.  Jess laughs and runs her fingers through Rey’s hair, sweeping it off her forehead.  She leans into the touch for a moment before fluttering her eyelashes goofily.  “Jess, didn’t you say you’d braid my hair?”

Jess smirks.  “Ask me nicely?”

“It was in my face all day long,” she complains, bumping her head against Jess’s stomach. 

Jess leans down to kiss her, which intensifies until Rey turns and sits up so she can nudge them flat.  Jess gets her hands in her hair - it’s thick and soft, and she likes the feel of it in her fingers.  She runs her fingers from the base of Rey’s skull down the back of her neck and feels her relax into the touch.

“Do something for me?” Rey asks, moving her lips to Jess’s jaw.

“Anything,” Jess murmurs.

Rey immediately sits up.  “Braid my hair?”

“Seriously?  Did you just kiss me into submission so I’ll play with your hair?” Jess demands in laughing indignation.

“Maybe,” Rey grins. 

\---

As she walks home from her fourth day of work, Jess realizes she’s homesick.  They’d discussed the logistics of the mission, of course, but the reality takes getting used to.  Even though she knows she’s doing something necessary and important, she feels kind of useless when she’s not flying.  It’s almost like when she first left Dandoran, except then she had the automatic friendships of the pilots in her training class to keep her company.  Now, she misses the noise and bustle of the mess and the way there’s always someone in the lounge if she wanders in at 0200.  She even sort of regrets not seeing the way Poe and Finn’s relationship must be developing, although she’ll never actually admit that. 

She doesn’t work alone, of course, but she keeps her distance from most of the other mechanics.  For one thing, she needs to maintain her cover as a semi-itinerant pilot who will only be staying a few months.  For another, their reactions to her range from surly to condescending to creepy.  Jess sort of gets it – she’s young and female and surrounded by men – but she doesn’t like it, so she keeps to herself. 

The only saving grace is that she has Rey.  However, she’s quieter than usual, and Jess doesn’t think it’s just because of the mission.  Oddly, she’s always working on something – checking the water reclaimer or tinkering with some piece of equipment – even though they’ve only been planetside for a couple of days.

Jess walks up the ramp, happily noting Rey’s speeder parked next to the ship, and finds her in the cockpit, running diagnostics and scowling at the readout.  When she says “Hi,” Rey jumps and whirls around, one hand reaching for the lightsaber on her belt.  Her eyes are wide, almost unseeing, and there’s no recognition in her face.

“Whoa,” Jess says, backing up and trying to keep her voice calm.  “It’s just me.  I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Rey blanches, drops into the pilot’s seat, and buries her face in her hands.  “Jess.  I’m so sorry.” 

“Can I…?” Jess asks, moving towards her.  When Rey nods, she kneels on the floor in front of her and puts a gentle hand on her knee.  “It’s okay,” she says, even though she has no idea what’s going on.

“I feel like I’m on Jakku again,” Rey finally says, her voice shaking.  “Like I have to work to eat, and I’m alone.”  She slides out of the chair and into Jess’s lap, burying her head in Jess’s shoulder.

Jess holds her tightly and strokes her hair, heedless of the cold floor beneath them.  “Is there anything I can do?” she offers.

“No,” Rey replies.  “I don’t know.”

“You’re not alone,” Jess reassures her.  “You’re not.  I’m here, and we have plenty of food, and we only have to do this for a few months.”

“We’re isolated,” Rey mumbles.  “I was so used to being on my own, and then, since I met BB-8 and all of this started… I know I complain about the lack of quiet, but...”

“I miss the base too,” Jess admits.  “It’s hard being here, but we’ll get used to it soon enough.”

Rey nods against her shoulder, and Jess feels her sigh.  “I guess we did agree to this.”

“Yeah.  Next time, do you want to tell General Organa to find a different pair of suckers, or should I?”

That makes Rey laugh as she sits up.  “You can’t call her ‘Leia’ even when we’re on a different planet, but you think you can give her attitude to her face?”

“Okay, fine, then you can do it,” Jess says.  “Feeling a little better?”

“Yeah.”  Rey kisses her lightly.  “Thank you.”

\---

As a week passes, they settle into a routine.  Jess quickly gets bored with the basic repair jobs she’s given, and prefers the times she gets to fly ships to the other side of the shipyard.  Rey proves her talents quickly and is soon working long hours.  Despite her speeder, she usually doesn’t get back to the ship until after Jess does. 

She comes home one day, giddy with excitement.  “Jess!  I’ve got my own project!” 

Jess can’t help but grin back at the look on her face.  “No ‘hello’ for me?” she teases.  “What’s up?”

“I’m supposed to build a new style of laser cannon,” Rey enthuses.  “They didn’t tell me the client, which is suspicious, and the schematics are enormous.  I think it could be for the First Order.  But it’s a totally new design, and I get to work on it myself!  I can even modify the plans without approval, to make sure they work right.”

“Wow,” Jess replies.  “That’s a lot of control.”

“Right?  I’ve never built something completely new but I know I can make this work.”  

“Um, Rey?  If it is for the First Order, are you still going to give them giant, fully functional laser cannons?”  Jess doesn’t want to dim her excitement, but she has full faith in Rey’s skills, and really does not want her work pointed at Resistance pilots any time soon.

“That’s the best part!” Rey exclaims.  “Since I have complete control, I can build in a kill switch.  They’ll work fine unless I decide they shouldn’t.  It’s an even bigger challenge this way – it has to be unnoticeable… maybe I can make them overheat…”

Jess can see the exact moment that Rey loses the conversation in favor of thinking about the new project, and decides to leave her to the diagrams she’s now sketching out. 

\---

They’re expected to send weekly reports to General Organa, whether or not they have any information, so Jess sits down to write the first one on her day off.  She finishes quickly and goes looking for Rey, finding her in the tiny galley.  She’s scowling and clearly unhappy as she picks through a pile of greens; they’re nearly out of the fresh food that Maz had given them. 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jess says. 

Usually the endearment either charms flusters Rey out of a mood.  This time, though, Rey just grumbles and keeps working. “These are no good,” she mutters. 

Jess leans over her shoulder and has to agree – they’re wilted and unappetizing.  “We can toss them?” she suggests cautiously.  Rey turns around to stare at her.  “Or not…” Jess tacks on.  “We won’t starve, hon, it’s OK.” It’s been a while since Jess had to shop and cook for herself, but they’re on an urbanized planet; it shouldn’t be too hard to find a store.

“No.”  Rey turns back to her task with stubbornness written in the tense line of her back and shoulders. 

Jess exhales soundlessly.  She’s still not sure how to help with Rey’s food issues.  She wishes she could convince her that she’ll never have to go hungry again.

Rey has been doing the cooking on this mission, with good success thanks to the cooks on the base.  Jess had heard the whole story from Poe; she’d been off-world at the time.  Once she’d gotten used to having real food instead of portions for every meal, Rey had taken to hanging around the mess kitchen in her free time, not really getting in the way but obviously studying everything that went on.  She was mostly left alone until someone had tried to throw out a box of old fruit.  Rey had protested immediately, grabbing the box.  Just then, Poe had wandered in and tried to grab a snack, but stopped immediately when he saw the standoff. 

Once Poe explained that Rey had grown up without real food, the notoriously prickly cook had relaxed.  She showed Rey a couple of cooking techniques, and eventually started letting Rey use the kitchen to practice when they weren’t busy. 

Rey’s initial attempts were edible but not always delicious.  Where Finn had been conditioned to eat whatever he was given, and Jess was too worried about hurting Rey’s feelings to comment, Poe had proven to be the perfect victim; he was able to strike a good balance of appreciation and friendly suggestions that she took in stride. 

Jess decides that discretion is the better part of valor and steers clear of the galley until dinner is ready.  It turns out to be traladon, with the questionable greens; Rey’s sautéed them with a sharp-tasting sauce and the meal is surprisingly tasty. 

Rey spends the meal scribbling in her notebook.  When Jess asks, she just gets a distracted mutter about “figuring out how many portions to save for an emergency.” 

Jess isn’t about to go down that road twice in one day.  Instead, she nudges Rey’s shin with her toes until she looks up, then says, “Thank you for dinner.”

\---

The next day, Jess gets back from work and pulls up a local map on her datapad.  As she suspected, there’s a store not too far away, so she heads out again.  An hour later, she hauls a couple of bags back onto the ship, grumbling to herself.  Next time she runs errands, she’s borrowing Rey’s speeder.  She’s halfway through putting the food away when she hears the airlock open.

“Jess, you here?” Rey calls.

“I’m in the galley,” she replies.  She closes the refrigerator unit and turns around to see Rey standing in the doorway, eyes wide. 

“Where did all of this come from?” Rey demands, staring at the food.

“I went to the store,” Jess replies, kissing her cheek absently before going back to what she was doing.  “You didn’t really want to eat survival rations for the next three months, did you?”

“No,” Rey says quietly.  She looks a little overwhelmed. 

_Could have warned her, Pava,_ Jess reprimands herself.  “Can I explain?”

Rey nods, letting Jess take her hand and lead her to the lounge. 

“Maz gave us enough for about a week,” Jess explains.  “It’s hard to keep fresh food much longer than that.  On a planet like this, it’s not hard to find a food store close by, so I went.”

“Right,” Rey says, shaking her head.  “I forgot how it works.”  Jess gets it – Rey’s spent her entire life eating portions or living on a military base where meals are scheduled.  “But isn’t it expensive?” she adds.

“Not really,” Jess says.  “Can I borrow your notebook?”  She writes out the numbers as she talks.  “I spent a hundred credits and got about a week’s worth of food for both of us.  I get paid six hundred credits a week, and the hangar fees are included in that.  This is really the only thing I need to spend money on, and General Organa even said she’d send us credits if we need.  That’s not including what you earn, either.  We can definitely afford to save the emergency rations for emergencies only.”

“Okay,” Rey finally says.  “Next time, though, can I come with you?”

“Of course,” Jess agrees.  “Oh!  I forgot.”  She pulls a plastic tube out of her pocket.  “I got you chocolate.”

Rey’s eyes widen slightly.  “They have chocolate here?”  She’d had it exactly once, after Poe brought some back from a trip to visit his father on Yavin 4. 

“They have a whole aisle full of candy,” Jess tells her, laughing at the glee that crosses Rey’s face.

\---

A month passes, and nothing happens.  Jess and Rey play house and pretend to be civilians; in the evenings, they discuss their days and overanalyze anything that gives either of them a weird feeling.  They can’t find anything conclusive; all they have is a handful of suspicions and Rey’s project.  It’s becoming increasingly clear that the evidence they need isn’t going to fall into their laps.    

One day, Rey uses a parts requisition as an excuse to ask her boss about the client they’re building cannons for.  She claims he’s distracted when she asks; no matter how she does it, though, she ends up in possession of an invoice for the order.  The client’s name turns out to be Torf Serrid, who owns a company called Serrid Shipping; the invoice claims they’re defensive weapons in case of pirates.  They pass the information on to the Resistance in hopes that one of their spies will know more. 

The next day, General Organa risks a holo call to talk to them directly.  “We checked into the name, and absolutely nothing comes up.  The company has been recently established, and there are no official records of any jobs they’ve done.”  She shakes her head.  “I have a bad feeling about this.” 

Rey nods.  “I’m building the cannons to spec, but I’m worried that they’re going to end up with the First Order.  I’m trying to put in a kill switch that I can trip if I need to.”

“Sabotage is probably the best idea,” Leia agrees.  “Keep looking for evidence, and be careful.”

\---

Jess is frustrated with the mission, and feels just a bit useless, but she tells herself that this has nothing to do with her current plan.  Her plan to sneak into her boss’s office and dig through his files, which is going to go just fine, thank you very much.  She’s noticed that he likes to take a long lunch; he usually walks out around 1130 and doesn’t come back until 1330.  Today, he’d left at his usual time, so she waits until her usual break at 1200, then leaves the building and sneaks back and into his office. 

He has a shelf full of old-fashioned paper blueprints and manuals, so she decides to dig through to see if she sees anything for a TIE fighter or one of the First Order’s troop transporters.  She’s not being reckless – she’s against the wall so she can keep one eye on the door, and is working as fast as she can.  She keeps reminding herself of this as she continues to search, but nothing useful turns up. 

Suddenly, she sees a shadow outside the door.  _Shit._   She turns to see if there’s somewhere she can hide, and slams her head into the corner of a metal hanging cabinet.  _Shit!_ She has just enough presence of mind not to scream, but she’s out of time.  She’s going to get caught.

The door opens, and he sees her immediately.  “What are you doing in here?” he demands.

Jess’s mind races.  “Looking for a medpac,” she lies.  “The last place I worked, they had one in the office.”  She can feel blood running down her forehead; at least it adds credence to her story. 

He laughs unkindly.  “A medpac?  What kinda fancy shop do you think this is?  Get out of my office.”  He takes another look at her, and adds, “If you’re going to bleed all over the ships, you’d better just go home and come back tomorrow.” 

That sounds just fine to Jess.  For lack of anything better, she presses the cleanest part of her sleeve to the gash and heads out.  Once back at the ship, she flops into a chair in the tiny lounge area.  She closes her eyes for a moment, dizzy with the pain, trying to convince herself to get up for a bandage. 

Suddenly, she hears a familiar voice saying her name.  She opens her eyes to see Rey hovering over her, looking worried.

“Please tell me you’re back early,” Jess groans.  “If you’re not, that means I passed out, and I really don’t want to have passed out.”

“I’m early,” Rey says.  “What did you do?”

“Wasn’t looking, hit my head.  Stupid.”  Jess carefully moves her hand and feels at the wound, and is relieved to see that the bleeding has slowed down.  “Why did you come back?”  

“I…” Rey pauses.  “This mission still makes me uneasy.  I’ve been keeping an eye on you with the Force.” 

“So that’s what that is,” Jess says.  Recently she’s noticed an odd feeling when she’s in the shipyard, as if someone were watching her, but she’s never caught anyone looking. 

“I don’t do it at the base, I swear, and I would never…” Rey trails off.  “It’s invasive.  But here, I’m worried something could happen to you.” 

“It’s okay,” Jess replies.  “I trust you.”  She sees a bit of the tension leave Rey’s shoulders as she says it.

Rey sighs and cups Jess’s chin, kissing her gently.  “Thank you.  Can I put a bandage on this now?”

“Yeah.” 

As Rey moves to get their medkit from the fresher, she calls, “Did you do anything else to yourself?  Do you feel sick or light-headed?”

“Nothing else, just a headache.  I want a cup of caf,” Jess grumbles. 

“Well, now I know you’re not concussed,” Rey replies drily. 

When she sets the medkit back down, Jess sits forward and says, “I can do it, if you’d rather.”

Rey brushes her hands away and quietly says, “Let me.”  As she begins to clean the cut, she explains, “I didn’t have anyone to take care of me when I got hurt - I had to learn how to do it myself.” 

Jess’s head hurts too much to say how she feels about that, but she reaches out to grab Rey’s free hand.  Rey squeezes it and leans forward to kiss her forehead.

\---

Jess is cleaning the refresher one day when Rey returns and calls out “I’m home!”

A warm glow spreads through Jess’s chest as she realizes just how domestic their situation is.  Sure, they’d already been sharing a room on the Resistance base, but it’s hard to forget that they’re in the middle of a war – the base is full of people, they’re always within comm reach of a commanding officer, and Jess needs to be ready to fly most of the time in case of an attack.  But here, living on a tiny ship in the middle of a boring stakeout, they really have made a home for themselves.  Rey cooks, Jess cleans, they share the errands that need to be run, and they take turns complaining about their jobs. 

It’s making Jess think about what she wants the rest of her life to be like.  Somehow, that’s less of a scary thought than it used to be.  Maybe she should send Poe a holo and see if he’s gotten to this point with Finn yet; she’d never admit it, but Poe tends to give pretty good advice.

She finishes putting away the cleaning supplies and checks their room, but her datapad isn’t there.  _Maybe Rey knows where it is_ , she thinks, and goes looking for her.

There’s faint noise coming from the kitchen, so she sticks her head through the door and discovers Rey, ostensibly cleaning, but the sight is really… something else.

Jess’s missing datapad is on the table, blasting one of the pop music albums that she usually denies loving.  Every dish and mug in the kitchen is in the air, held rock-steady over the counter as Rey weaves through the midair maze.  She’s dancing with more enthusiasm than skill as she cleans the counter, and Jess can’t contain her grin as she watches her girlfriend bop around.  She indulges herself for a minute longer before slipping back out the door.  She can send Poe that message later.

Suddenly, Jess hears a loud crash.  “Rey?” she calls, concerned.  Again, she gets no response, but there’s a new tension in the air.  She goes back into the kitchen and sees Rey, white as a sheet, leaning with both hands against the sink.  The dishes lie shattered on the counter.

“Are you okay?” Jess exclaims.  “What’s wrong?”

“Kylo Ren is in orbit,” Rey replies.  She’s still pale, but her voice is steady.  “We have to tell Leia, and we should hide.”  Her movements are mechanical as she straightens and sweeps the broken dishes into the garbage. 

Jess curses.  “This is not the kind of obvious First Order involvement I was hoping for.  Do you think he knows we’re here?” 

“I don’t know,” she says.  “I was using the Force when I felt him.  I can’t tell if he noticed me.”

“What do we do?”  Jess turns towards the cockpit.  “We should turn on the sensors.”

Rey follows her, thinking aloud.  “We can’t leave.  A ship taking off would draw his notice.”  She leaves it unsaid, but they both know that if he senses them, well.  The Pigeon doesn’t have much in the way of defenses.  “If he lands…”

Jess turns to look at her.  “You defeated him last time, and you’re almost fully trained now, right?”

“I’m not testing that when your safety is at stake,” Rey snaps anxiously.  “I think our best option is to sit tight for now, and hope he didn’t notice me.” 

“Okay,” Jess agrees.  Now in the cockpit, she taps a brief message – “going mute for possible compromise” – then shuts off their encrypted commlink to the resistance base.  Meanwhile, Rey flips on their sensors and configures them to see what’s orbiting the planet.  Although long-range sensors are usually terrible at penetrating the ceiling of a hangar, theirs are modified enough to give them at least a sketchy outline of what’s in the sky.  There are no TIE fighters and no Star Destroyer; for a moment, Jess feels relieved that they aren’t about to get caught in a battle.  On the other hand, it’s hard to identify where Ren might be.

Suddenly, Rey curses, pointing at the outline of two large cargo ships swooping in to land.  “I’m an idiot.  Of course he noticed something when I felt him in orbit.” 

The ships separate; one goes east towards the engineering yard, and the other approaches their hangar.  It lands and disgorges four Stormtroopers, who make a beeline for the Pigeon.  At least Ren is nowhere in sight. 

“You have to hide,” Jess insists.  “They must know it’s our ship, but they don’t know who I am.  I’ll head them off, I can lie, just – you have to hide.”  

After a long pause, Rey agrees.  “Okay, but be careful, Jess, please.”

Jess feels something change in the air, looks towards Rey, and sees… nothing.  She’s projecting through the Force to hide herself entirely; Jess can’t even feel her body heat.

Phantom lips brush the top of her head, and Jess knows she’s effectively on her own.

Something slams against the closed airlock, and Jess steels herself.  She hits the button to open it, then moves to stand at the top of the ramp.  The Stormtroopers approach her, and she stands firm, trying to mask her fear with bravado.  “What do you want?”

“We know there is a Force user on this ship,” one replies, voice distorted through his helmet. 

“What?”  Jess replies.  “Well, it’s not me.”

“Move out of the way,” the Stormtrooper demands as the other three push past her.  “Your manifest says you have a passenger.  We will search the ship.”

“Under whose authority?” Jess argues.  “You’re First Order, or I’m an Ewok.  What right do you have to board my ship?”

The trooper levels a blaster directly at her face.  “I will not ask again.”

“I picked up an engineer on Takodana,” Jess says slowly.  “Her name is Dev.  I don’t know anything about her except she pays her way and leaves me alone.”

“Where is she?” the trooper demands. 

“Not here,” Jess snaps.  “I’m telling you, it’s not like we’re close.”

As they face off, the other three troopers return from their search.  “We found nothing obvious, sir, except that only one bunk has been slept in,” the last one reports. 

Jess blanches.  How could they have missed that? 

“You lied,” the commander says. 

“Force, I thought you Stormtroopers were supposed to be stupid!” she hisses.  She’s in deep bantha shit.  She can’t think of a way out of this. 

The blaster is back in Jess’s face.  “We’re also supposed to be bad shots.  Now, where is she?”

“I really don’t know,” Jess babbles, bravado gone.  “Honestly.  She said she felt you coming and then she ran off and left me here.  Trust me, I’m not happy.  I’d tell you if I knew.  Just – let me go.”  She hopes Rey is out of the way. 

The commander holsters his blaster.  “Let’s take this one to Ren.  She may have information about the Resistance.”

“What?  No!” Jess shouts as her arms are grabbed and cuffs close around her wrists. 

The Stormtrooper ignores her.  “NP-0510, stay here and apprehend the Jedi if she comes back.  Set your blaster to stun and shoot her immediately on sight.  Do not kill her, and do not let her see you.  I will take the prisoner.  NP-0521 and NP-0533, you will search the hangar for the Jedi.”

“Yes, sir,” one of the underlings says.  “And this freighter?”

“It may have information for us as well,” the commander muses.  “Tens has a pilot certification.  She will fly it to our ship when we depart.”

Apparently satisfied with his plan, the commander strides off.  The two Stormtroopers holding Jess follow, half-dragging her with them towards the ship.  They wrestle her onboard and she ends up in what looks like a corner of a cargo bay that’s been walled off to hold prisoners.  She’s pushed to sit on a low bench, and her cuffs lock onto the wall behind her.   Distantly, she can hear noises as if the ship is being loaded with something, and then suddenly she feels the engines power up and they take flight. 

The Stormtrooper looms over her again.  “So.  Would you like to cooperate with us, or shall we do this the hard way?”

Jess stares at him.  “I don’t know what you think I know, but this is a waste of your time.  Let me go.”

“I know that your name is Jessika Pava and you are the lover of that scavenger scum who thinks she’s a Jedi.  She is with the Resistance, which means you are too.  Since you’re listed as the pilot of your ship, I think you’re a Resistance fighter pilot.” 

Jess winces.  “They don’t tell the pilots anything.  You won’t get anything useful out of me.” 

“Battle tactics.  Flight maneuvers.  Weak spots on your ships.  I can find plenty of questions for you,” he says coldly.  Jess feels metal press against her neck and hears the hiss of a hypodermic needle.  He turns away and says, “NP-0510, guard the door.  I will go tell Ren that the prisoner will be ready for interrogation shortly.”

“Tell him that I work for his mother, and she’s a lot scarier than he is!” Jess shouts as the door closes.

Jess is left alone, but somehow, she doesn’t find the situation worrisome.  Instead, she starts to feel calm and relaxed.  Not even the restraints are bothering her anymore.  Through her fuzzy vision, she sees the door slide open and a vaguely familiar figure enter.

“Rey?”  Maybe Jess is dreaming.  “Is that you?”

“It’s me,” Rey says.  She’s wearing white, and looks bigger than usual.  That’s funny.  “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“How did you end up here, anyways?”

“I got lucky.  They left a Stormtrooper on board the Pigeon.  Once they took you, I knocked her out and stole her armor,” Rey explains quickly, fiddling with Jess’s restraints.  “They told me to fly the ship here, and then I was ordered to guard your cell.”  

Jess laughs.  “I can’t believe you.  This is, like, the third time someone has used that trick.”  She thinks for a moment.  “Luke Skywalker and Han Solo did it once, and then – well, does Finn count?”

“Jess.”  Rey grabs her chin and peers into her eyes.  “I think they did something to you, but I need you to focus.  I have to get you out of here.”

“They gave me something,” Jess agrees amiably.  “I’ll go with you anywhere, even if this rescue is clichéd.  Where are we again?” 

“On board a First Order ship,” Rey snaps.  “Jessika, please.  Do you know what’s happened to you?”

“You never use my full name,” Jess muses.  “Are you mad at me?”

“Yes, I am!” Rey cries as she finally manages to open the restraints.  “You got yourself captured by the First Order to protect me, you’ve been drugged, and we’re onboard the same ship as Kylo Ren.  I am terrified and I’m angry with you.”

“Oh.  Can he tell that you’re here?” Jess blinks rapidly, trying to clear her vision.  Although she still feels completely unconcerned, she trusts Rey.  Rey is really smart.  If she’s worried about something, maybe Jess should be too. 

“Ren is throwing a temper tantrum somewhere,” she says.  “I heard the troopers warning each other over the comms.  I don’t think he’s noticed me.”

“Okay,” Jess replies.  “So what do we do?”

“I have a plan,” Rey says.  “Can you follow my instructions?  We’re just outside the cargo bay, where I was told to land the Century Pigeon.  I’m going to open the door, and I want you to run to the ship and get on board.  Okay?  Do you remember the code?”

 “Yeah,” Jess says.  “Find the ship, open the door, get on the ship.  No problem.” 

“This had better work,” Rey mutters.  She sheds the Stormtrooper armor quickly.  “Okay.  Run to the ship – NOW!”  She smacks the panel, and the cell door slides open. 

They both dash into the hangar.  Jess is mildly surprised by the cannons filling most of the space, but the drug is still blunting most of her reactions.  Mostly she wants to follow Rey’s directions so she won’t be angry any more.  Actually – where is Rey?

Jess turns to look for her and stops in her tracks.  Rey is standing, motionless, in the middle of the hangar.  She’s levitating a cannon that must be half the size of the Ghtroc; it’s incredible, and Jess can’t help but stare at the calm power on display. 

Stormtroopers are beginning to appear at the doors.  Rey throws the cannon, blocking the largest hallway, and shouts, “JESS, GET ON THE SHIP!”

Right.  Jess starts running again and makes it on board without further distraction.  Rey is right behind her, nudging her towards the copilot’s seat and slapping the switches for the engines.  As they gather power, Rey closes her eyes and goes still; the hangar door begins to slide open and the ship lifts off.

Jess thinks maybe she’s supposed to be doing something, but she feels sleepy.  Rey is a comforting presence nearby, muttering under her breath at the controls.  As the ship jumps into hyperspace, she lets her eyes slip closed. 

\---

She wakes slowly, at first only registering that she’s warm and her neck is stiff.  She’s in a chair with Rey’s vest draped over her.  Outside the window, she sees the unexpected blackness of space, and suddenly the past day comes back to her.  “Rey?”

Rey is watching her from the pilot’s seat.  Jess stands, tentatively, and Rey throws herself out of her chair and wraps her arms around Jess’s neck. 

“Are you okay?” she murmurs, not letting go. 

Jess relaxes into the embrace, ignoring her stiff muscles.  She still feels sort of fuzzy, but it’s getting better.  “Yeah.  I will be.  Did all of that really happen?”

“You mean me rescuing you in a Stormtrooper uniform and you nearly refusing to leave because it wasn’t original enough?  Yes.”  Rey sighs. 

“Was I out for long?”

“A few hours,” Rey says.  “I made a couple of hyperspace jumps, and now we’re hiding in the Outer Rim.  I don’t know where we should go; they’ll be looking for the Pigeon, and I don’t want to lead them straight back to the base.”

Jess leans back a little to look at her.  “Wait, what about Kylo Ren?  Nothing happened?”

“He didn’t appear,” Rey explains.  “I’m glad.  Apparently when he was informed that you had been captured, but not me, he was… displeased.  I also tripped the kill switches in the cannons I built, so they won’t be any use.”

“Good,” Jess says.  “So… we’re done?  We have the evidence we wanted, the cannons are destroyed, and we’re away from the First Order?”

“Yeah.  We just need a clean ship.”

Jess lets out a breath.  “Huh.”  She sits back down to call up a map on the navscreen.  “I have an idea.  Do you think we can get to Dandoran without being intercepted?  I have a friend who owes me a favor… here, on the west side of the planet.”

Rey leans over the back of her seat, propping her chin on Jess’s head to look at the screen.   “Looks safe enough.  I think they’d start searching south before they come over here.”  She moves back to the pilot’s chair to tap in a couple of commands, then pauses.  “Jess… you’re sure you’re okay?  We can probably hide out here a while longer.” 

“We should get off this ship as soon as we can,” Jess sighs, “even though all I want to do right now is go lie down with you.” 

Rey leans over to kiss her quickly.  “Let’s go home then,” she says. 

She pulls the lever, and the ship jumps to hyperspace again.  Minutes later, they’re nearing the planet’s surface.  Jess takes over the pilot’s seat and steers them towards a low building.  Meanwhile, she switches on the comms and barks, “Open the door, asshole!”

Surprisingly, the hangar opens, and Jess lands inside.  She starts powering down the ship and explains, “This chop shop belongs to my friend.  I saved him from one of the Hutts a while back, before I joined the Resistance.  I’m going to go trade him this ship for one that the First Order won’t recognize.  Can you strip the modifications in here?”

Rey nods.  “Be careful, okay?”

When Jess emerges from the ship, she’s met by a young man with shaggy black hair.  “Jess?  Never thought I’d see you back here,” he says, eyeing her suspiciously.  “What do you want?”

“I need a favor, Gabe,” she says.  She can hear clanging from the Pigeon; at least Rey is getting somewhere.  She can also tell that Rey is keeping an eye on her, which is comforting.  She still doesn’t quite feel like herself.

He snorts.  “The First Order is looking for a Ghtroc like that, you know.  I might not be interested in sticking my neck out for you today.”

Unfortunately, this is exactly the reception Jess was expecting.  “Remember Smuggler’s Basin?  I’m calling that in.”

She stands firm as he throws up his arms in frustration.  “Come on, you can’t be serious!”

“No, I’m not letting that go.  I saved your ass and you know it.  I want you to take this piece of junk and disassemble it for parts, and I want something to fly out of here on.  It can be as old and crappy as you like as long as it’ll get to hyperspace.” 

“Fine!  Fine,” he grumbles.  “You’ll get your ship.”  He jumps as a loud _thoomp_ shakes the ground.  “What the hell is going on in there?”

“My friend is getting your work started for you,” Jess snaps.  “Now show me what you’ve got.”

Gabe gestures to two grease-stained men, who jog over.  “See this freighter?  I want it in pieces as soon as possible.  What have we got that’s flight-worthy?”

One of them scratches his head.  “There’s that YT model, should be okay.” 

Jess grins.  “It’s a deal, and I won’t bother you again.”

Gabe claps her on the shoulder.  “Good to see you, Pava.  So are you going to tell me what you’ve gotten wrapped up in, or…”  He pauses, staring over her shoulder.  Jess turns; Rey is riding a cargo lift down from the belly of the ship with a large pile of electronics in a net at her feet. 

“I’m saving the comms,” she says to Jess, lifting the bundle with apparent ease.  “I destroyed everything else that could lead back to the Resistance.”  She looks Gabe up and down and steps a bit closer to Jess. 

He looks appropriately stunned.  “On second thought, I don’t want to know.” 

Jess smirks at him.  “They’ve got a ship for us, hon,” she says to Rey.  The endearment is worth it for the way her old friend’s eyes widen even further.  “You’ll like it.”

Gabe leads them to the new freighter, which is almost identical to the Millennium Falcon, right down to its battered appearance.  Rey snickers.  “I’m going to go reinstall these,” she says.  “Should be ready to go in a few minutes.” 

“Well,” Jess says.  “I should go.  Don’t let anyone know I was here, for your sake.”  Gabe nods, and Jess boards the freighter.

\---

After they leave Dandoran, Rey flies a circuitous course to put them on a safe route to D’Qar.  Jess feels like she ought to be more useful, but she can barely keep her eyes open, and Rey insists that she rest. 

On their last jump, Rey gets the encrypted comms working and sends a message to the base that they’re coming home in a new ship, so they don’t get shot down.  When they exit hyperspace, they’re met by a squadron of X-wings; Jess is amused to see that it’s Blue Squadron.  Even better, no one is flying her X-wing. 

The comms crackle, and Jess hears Poe’s voice coming through.  “Black Leader to unidentified vessel, can you confirm your crew?”

“Hey Poe,” Jess replies.  “It’s me and Rey.  Did you get your ship cleaned while we were gone?  Do we have to re-cootie-ize it?”

Poe groans.  “Glad you’re back.  Please never remind me of that morning again.”

Rey leans over to ask, “Got a landing spot for us, Dameron?”

“Next to the Falcon, actually,’ Poe replies.  “You good?  We’ll continue our patrol.” 

“See you soon,” Jess says, and closes the channel as Rey swoops towards the landing pad.

When they disembark, Leia is waiting for them.  She looks them over and says, “Given that you’ve returned with a different ship than the one I provided, I suspect you had some excitement.”

Rey replies, “The First Order absolutely was working with Frye Shipyard.  Ren came for the cannons I built, then Jess got captured and drugged.  We escaped without too much of a fight and I managed to disable the cannons.” 

Leia sighs.  “At least now we know.  Pava – report to Medical.  I’ll debrief you both more fully tomorrow.”

Rey nods and drags Jess off.  As soon as they get into the corridor, Jess sways on her feet.  It’s been less than a standard day since the First Order landed on Corellia, but the stress and exhaustion are catching up to her in full force.  Rey puts her arm around Jess’s waist, and she sinks gratefully into the support. 

Medical is blessedly quick; she describes the drug’s effects to Dr. Kalonia, who agrees that it sounds like a common anxiolytic.  Rey, sitting beside her, is apparently doing the worrying for both of them.  “So it’ll wear off and she’ll be okay?”

“More than likely,” Dr. Kalonia reiterates.  “I can’t know for sure without seeing the drug, or the dose, but she would have shown signs of a bad reaction before now.”

“So what should we do?” Rey asks.

The doctor sighs, looking like maybe she wants to give Rey a dose.  “Nothing.  She can sleep if she wants, but really it just has to wear off.  She’ll be fine.”

As they leave, Rey asks, “Do you want dinner?  Or do you just want to go to bed?”

“Bed, please,” Jess yawns.  “You don’t have to stay with me if you’re hungry.”

“Absolutely not,” Rey says.  “I’ll stay.” 

They finally reach their room and Jess gratefully sits down on the bed. 

“I was so scared,” Rey admits.  “I love you, Jess.”

Jess laughs quietly.  “I know.”  Rey looks confused, so Jess tugs her down to kiss her.  “Never mind, I’ll explain tomorrow.  I love you too.”

As she drifts off to sleep, Jess thinks she’s never been so happy to be home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Voroindo, who beta'ed both this and its prequel. If there are little bits in this fic that sound like references to other fandoms... they are.


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